World Cup boycott latest: Infantino refuses to back down after Uefa say they’ll refuse to play in Fifa tournaments

Football’s governing body wants to sell minority stakes in the World Cup to private investors – a move which has drawn criticism from member associations.

Fifa have issued their response to concerns over the proposal and claimed that ‘nobody is selling football’.

In case you might have missed the big news, Fifa is facing criticism from its member associations over its decision to set up a commercial body and sell off stakes in the World Cup.

This proposal has infuriated MAs such as Uefa and Concacaf who have both rejected the idea with the European governing body threatening to boycott Fifa competitions unless the proposal is dropped.

Fifa have, this morning, responded to the threats and concerns from Uefa as well as other federations and have released a statement reaffirming their own position.

Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, has publically backed the proposal and his leadership is now being called into question as well.

We’ll have all the latest updates from this story throughout the day so stick with us…

Here’s everything you need to know about the threatened boycott:

Fifa insists “nobody is selling football” amid criticism of its decision to launch a consultation on selling stakes in a World Cup commercial entity to private investors.

However, football’s global governing body stopped short of withdrawing the controversial plan and insisted it would press ahead with the consultation period.

Uefa reacted furiously when the plans to create Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) first emerged in media reports in The Times and the Financial Times on Tuesday.

Less than 48 hours later, Uefa’s 55 member associations insisted they would not participate in any Fifa tournament until the plan was withdrawn.

In a statement released on Friday morning, Fifa said: “We have heard the feedback provided by the respective confederations in relation to the proposed establishment of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) and would like to address the issues that have surfaced since the initial media reporting on Tuesday.

“We respect the feedback and concern aired in public and reaffirm our commitment to an open and democratic consultation.

⁠”Our planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports. We will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each MA has the ability to express its vote based on facts.”

At the start of the emergency meeting that saw Uefa drop “a nuclear bomb” on Gianni Infantino’s plans to privatise the World Cup, federation president Aleksander Ceferin uttered a phrase that would be echoed a few times over the next two hours.

Last night, Uefa confirmed that it was threatening to boycott the World Cup and all Fifa competitions over a plan to sell off stakes in the tournament. Jamie Braidwood has the full story.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino has described the controversial plan to sell stakes in the World Cup as a “proposal” and “not an obligation” in a bizarre video released on Wednesday night.

Would Fifa press on with a 48-team World Cup without European teams? Let’s not forget that Infantino suggested that Fifa would look at expanding the World Cup to 64 teams in 2030. We also don’t know yet whether Uefa’s boycott would be replicated by other federations, such as Asia and North America.

But a 48-team World Cup, ridiculously staged in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Morocco, and comprised by removing European teams from this summer’s tournament and replacing them directing with the next-best teams from the Fifa rankings, could look something like this…

Fifa members who vote through Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell the World Cup to investors will get $40m. Vote it down, and it’s just $10m. Here, chief sports writer Lawrence Ostlere dissects the pitch football can’t refuse – and how Uefa are pushing back – in this week’s Inside Football newsletter:

It will cover all Fifa-sanctioned tournaments covering national teams. As it stands, the boycott will not cover club teams, meaning the planned 2029 Fifa Club World Cup would not be affected.

As such, the first senior tournament would be the 2027 Fifa Women’s World Cup, taking place between 24 June and 25 July, in Brazil next year.

Europe have 11 guaranteed slots in the 32-team competition. Spain are the defending champions, while England were finalists last time out in Australia.

England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland all have scheduled play-off qualifiers in October, which are organised by Uefa. Whether these matches specifically will go ahead, therefore, is yet to be confirmed.

The next men’s World Cup takes place in 2030 in Spain, Portugal and Morocco – with opening games in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

The next Fifa tournament at any age group is the 2026 Fifa Under-20 Women’s World Cup, which starts on 5 September in Poland. Six European teams, including England, were set to compete.

The 2026 Fifa Under-17 World Cup, for which England did not qualify, starts on 19 November in Qatar.